1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a coat or covering that can be worn by a four legged animal, such as a dog.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Design Pat. 313,676 discloses a protective garment for pets, which appears to be intended for use with dogs. Chest straps extend around the dog's chest from opposite sides and lap over each other, where they appear to be attached by hook and loop fasteners. The garment is placed over the dog's back, and front and rear straps extend under the dog's torso and are buckled on an opposite side. One of these straps is adjacent the dog's front legs and the other strap is near the dog's rear legs. The longitudinal position of this garment on a dog appears to be determined by the fore and aft straps extending beneath the dog's torso, since the garment must be placed so as not to restrict movement of the dog's legs. Therefore, this garment does not appear adjustable so that the same garment can be used on dogs of different size. Even though the chest straps may allow minor adjustment, this adjustment would not allow the garment to be shifted longitudinally relative to the dog because of the two straps extending beneath the dog's torso. The length of these two lower straps appears to be adjustable, but this adjustability should only compensate for the girth or weight of the dog. The rear strap also appears to be located so that it could contact a male dog's genitals, which may account for the relatively loose fit illustrated in that disclosure. If the lower straps are indeed loose fitting, they would not help retain heat radiated from the dog's stomach area, and the buckled straps illustrated in that disclosure do not appear suited for insulating the dog's stomach.
There are other prior art dog coats that employ only a single strap or strap assembly extending beneath the stomach. A commercially available Sherpa Lined Fleece Jacket employs a tapered body section extending rearwardly from a single stomach strap subassembly. This jacket has an extra wide chest strap subassembly with a cutout that extend almost to the same longitudinal position as the stomach strap assembly leaving a relatively large opening for the dog's head and neck. This configuration does not appear to provide much room for adjustment and appears to be specifically sized for various standard size dogs, especially smaller dogs.